


music is the strongest form of magic

by kayteedancer



Series: November Challenge [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Darcy Lewis's iPod, Darcy has tinnitus, Disabled Character, F/M, Gen, Magic Darcy Lewis, Witch Darcy Lewis, hard of hearing character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 17:19:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12635604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayteedancer/pseuds/kayteedancer
Summary: Magic had always been a part of Darcy’s life.  Her mother was what one would call a witch nowadays, and so was her mother before her, and her mother before her, and her mother before her, all the way back as far as anyone can remember. She remembers her mother bringing roses to life in the dead of winter, her grandmother stopping time for fractions of seconds, remembers growing up in a house where the impossible was commonplace and nothing was too crazy to be believed.But Darcy was all too aware that all magic came with a price.





	music is the strongest form of magic

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my installment for Day 4! The prompt was: A local wizard can only cast spells using song lyrics. The wizard has finally decided to employ someone to compile lyrics - that person is you.
> 
> So... this does not really follow the prompt at all. But it does have Witch!Darcy who can only cast spells using song lyrics, and inspiration from the movie Baby Driver (which was amazing and if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it).  
> It also features Darcy as Hard of Hearing, and I apologize if I got something wrong in my portrayal of Darcy having tinnitus, albeit a magic-driven version. 
> 
> Thank you so, so much to everyone that has read my previous installments, has left kudos, and left comments! You all give me life and make me want to keep writing! And feel free to prompt me or just drop a line and say hi over on my tumblr (@sleepeatdancedream) as well. I would love to hear what you think!
> 
> Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoy this installment!
> 
> Title is a quote by Marilyn Manson.

Magic had always been a part of Darcy’s life.  Her mother was what one would call a witch nowadays, and so was her mother before her, and her mother before her, and her mother before her, all the way back as far as anyone can remember. She remembers her mother bringing roses to life in the dead of winter, her grandmother stopping time for fractions of seconds, remembers growing up in a house where the impossible was commonplace and nothing was too crazy to be believed.

But Darcy was all too aware that magic came with a price.  It took as much as it gave.  She watched as her grandmother, touched with foresight and prophecy and able to rearrange time with a twist of her watch’s hands, slowly lost her mind, dementia warping her reality until there was nothing left of the woman Darcy had grown up looking up to.  Her mother, touched with empathy and able to heal any disease with skin to skin contact, grew frail and gaunt with all the sicknesses that she had “cured” in others, suffering from illnesses she had worked on years ago.

Darcy knew that on a scale of all the Lewis women’s powers, all their consequences, hers were extremely minor.  She was only able to cast magic using song lyrics, her limits only what had been written and sung by someone else.  When she was young, her magic meant that there was always music in her life, dancing and singing things into being as she learned control.  But once she could control her magic, its consequences made themselves known.

One day when she was around 12 years old, Darcy woke up with a low buzzing in her ears.  She didn’t worry about it initially, convinced that she was just picking up the static from the TV in the living room or the white noise of a radio.  She got dressed like every other day, went downstairs and smiled at her mother, shoved her earbuds in her ears and sang her PB&J into being.  Once she was done, she paused her iPod and removed her earbuds only to scream in pain, collapsing to the floor with her hands clapped over her ears. What had once been a low-level buzzing had turned into a torrent of ringing noise, the sounds like driving spikes into her eardrums.

Her mother fell to her knees before her, hands pressing to Darcy’s temples. Tears sprang to Darcy’s eyes as nothing happened, her mother’s power unable to take away this awful, terrible pain. Her mother was probably trying to calm her down, Darcy saw her lips moving but couldn’t hear anything past the ringing noise that only grew louder and more painful as time went on.

Darcy curled into a fetal position on the floor, her hands clasped tight over her ears and her voice hoarse from screaming, sobs wracking her body as the pain grew nigh on unbearable.  Suddenly, her grandmother burst into the room, skidding to a halt next to her daughter and granddaughter as she groped for Darcy’s earbuds. Jamming them into her granddaughter’s ears, Darcy’s grandmother frantically pressed the play button on Darcy’s iPod and music began flooding her ears.

Darcy felt the ringing recede as the peppy notes of “Peanut Butter Jelly Time” chorused in her ears and her sobs changed from ones of pain to ones of relief.  She unfurled herself from her curled up position to throw herself in her grandmother’s arms, so grateful that she had been able to figure out what she needed to do to make the pain stop.

From that moment forward, Darcy was never seen without earbuds shoved in her ears and music playing. She was diagnosed with tinnitus and her doctor helped her get documentation that she could always have her iPod, that she could always have music playing so she never had to feel such awful pain again.  And other than a few asshole teachers that needed to be set straight by her mother and her doctor, Darcy had never really had any problems.  She had her magic, she had her music, and her tinnitus was manageable as long as no one tried to mess with her earbuds.

That is, until Thor fell from the sky and SHIELD descended on Jane’s lab like a committee of vultures.

Darcy watched with her mouth agape as SHIELD began confiscating everything: their equipment, Jane’s notes, Darcy’s laptop, everything.  As a suit approached her with hands outstretched, eyes locked on her iPod, Darcy felt magic buzz behind her lips as a cold trickle of dread slide down her spine.

“Please, I have tinnitus, I  _need_  my iPod. It hurts me if I don't have it. There’s nothing on it other than music, I swear, please don’t take it from me,  _please_ ,” she begged, knuckles white around the player.  The jackbooted thug looked at her unsympathetically, fingers wrapping around her earbud cords and  _yanking_  –

Darcy’s knees went out from under her as the ringing in her ears came back full force, rattling around her skull.  She let out an ear-piercing scream as she slapped her hands over her ears, trying in vain to block out the ringing.

Tears streaming down her face with pain, Darcy could see Jane screaming at the head jackbooted thug, fighting to pass him, to get to her.

The ringing grew louder than it had ever been before. A scream ripped from Darcy’s throat as she nearly convulsed in pain.  Her vision whited with the pain’s intensity, her fingers digging into her skin hard enough to draw blood as she babbled, pleaded, begged for her iPod; she would do anything, _anything,_ for the pain to  _stop_ –

Darcy felt someone shove her hands away from her ears and she started to scream again as the volume of the ringing spiked briefly before something was shoved in her ears and the dulcet tones of Etta James began to drown out the ringing.  She collapsed in relief, her hands shaking as she checked her ears only to meet the bedazzled decorations of her favorite pair, the pair that the jackbooted thug had stolen from her.

“Darcy!” Jane yelled, pushing someone away as she knelt next to Darcy.  “Darcy, are you alright?  What happened?!”

“I’m fine now, Jane,” Darcy croaked, tears still slipping down her cheeks as she turned to look at her boss.  “I just… that was awful.”

“Miss Lewis,” a man’s voice cut in, round and polished and bland in a way Darcy knew had to be studied.  A low hum of magic accompanied him, some type of attention spell, she thought idly. She rolled her head to the other side to look at the owner of the carefully bland voice.

The voice matched a decently attractive but largely unmemorable man, a well-made but bland suit only adding to the man’s entire “Notice-Me-Not” vibe.  His eyes though… his eyes were a striking blue and shimmered with leashed power.

A witch, then. Or something like it.

“Miss Lewis; on behalf of SHIELD, I am sorry for the pain that you went through when your iPod was seized,” the man continued, his hands folded over his knees as he knelt opposite Jane.  “I understand that you have tinnitus and that my agent did not respond to your warnings and pleas before unlawfully seizing your earbuds and iPod.  If you would like to press charges against him, that can be arranged. However, rest assured that he will be reprimanded severely for his behavior and for the pain he caused you regardless of your decision.”

Darcy shut her eyes briefly as a migraine started banging against the inside of her skull. “Agent…?”

“Coulson, Miss Lewis,” Agent Coulson replied, his hands twitching briefly before settling against his knees once more. Darcy nodded and groped for Jane’s hand.  The other woman’s callused fingers gripped tight to her own, Darcy replied formally, “Agent Coulson, I would like to press charges at a later date as I am physically unable to do so at the moment.”  She paused for a breath before continuing, “But thank you for your help with getting me my earbuds and iPod back.”

She cracked her eyes open just in time to see Agent Coulson nod once before he nonchalantly brushed his fingers over hers.  Darcy felt an unearthly calm filter into her and her gaze snapped to the bland man’s.  A miniscule smile twitched at his lips briefly as he nodded again, and Darcy’s eyes narrowed.  He was a touch-empath, it seemed. But that didn't quite explain the "Notice-Me-Not" swirling around him.

“Once again, I am sorry for your pain, Miss Lewis.  I will notify the authorities of what transpired here and tell them to come see you tomorrow for your statement.”

Darcy waved her free hand weakly and the SHIELD agents cleared out of the lab in record time.

Jane, who had remained conspicuously silent since her initial outburst, ventured a quiet, “Darcy?  Are you alright now?”

“Yeah, I’m fine now, Boss Lady,” she croaked, her throat sore.  “Just tired.” 

But Darcy knew she wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight.  Instead, her thoughts would revolve around the powerful empath that had helped her when she thought her pain was unbearable, the bland Agent that all-but faded into the shadows when he was strong enough to calm her entirely with just a brush of his fingers over hers.

“Secret agent man,” Darcy sang under her breath as Jane helped her to her feet, and Darcy swore she heard a whispery laugh matching the exact timber and tone of Agent Coulson’s voice filter through the air before fading back into silence.


End file.
